Who Really Controls Our Hospital?

By Jon Ausman

Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare (TMH), as a not-for-profit, is required to file each year Form 990 with the IRS. The last one was filed in August 2025. The public has access to this form to evaluate the finances, programs and mission of TMH. For example, TMH runs a 772 bed hospital. TMH itself listed 25 names of their “Key Employees and Officers.”

Media advisers to TMH have worked against a FSU medical partnership because they argued “local control” is better than “state control.” Let’s examine the demographical, political, and geographical backgrounds of the 25 Key Employees and Officers to determine if they truly reflect the voters and residents of Leon County.

Before starting, be aware that the American Hospital Association representing not-for-profit hospitals believes that a community’s characteristics should be reflected among the key employees and hospital boards.

Among the 25 “Key Employees and Officers” listed on the 990 Form, 72% are male and 28% are female. Compare this to the Leon County voter registration rolls where 42% are male and 55% are female. Here there is a disparity.

Among the 23 key personnel that government records provide demographic information, 78% are white, 13% are black and 9% are Hispanic or other. Among registered voters 61% are white, 27% are black, and 12% are Hispanic or other. While the numbers are slightly better than the male-female numbers above, there is another disparity.

On the political front, likely the least important when compared to demographical and geographical characteristics, among the 17 that voter records are available 47% are No Party Affiliated, 35% are Republicans, and 18% are Democratic. Among registered voters 20% are NPAs, 30% are Republican, and 48% are Democratic. The Republican match is close but the Democratic and NPA registrants are not representative.

In the geographical area, the homes of 19 were identified. Of these, 90% were in three zip codes located in northeast Leon County: namely in zip codes 32308, 32309, and 32312. These three zip codes contain 36% of Leon County’s voters. The remaining zip codes, with 64% of the population, have two of the 19. There are five zip codes each with more than 6,500 voters in them that are totally unrepresented: 32304, 32305, 32310, 32311, and 32317.

While northeast zip codes have one key person per 2,500 voters, other zip codes either have ten times the number of voters per key person or they do not even have one.

After reviewing the demographical, political and geographical characteristics of the “Key Employees and Officers,” I have to conclude that collectively most of the current persons fulfilling those positions are not representative of our community’s overall characteristics.

If we are going to take the phrase “local control” seriously, then it should be structured in a way that actually reflects our community. One straightforward option would be for the City Commission to appoint a portion of the TMH board – five members with one appointed by each commissioner and the mayor. That model likely would contribute to the “local control” argument and ensure that every corner of the city has a voice. Under the current arrangement, however, representative “local control” is little more than a slogan.

The issue of “local control” is intended to distract us from the question of whether FSU’s involvement improves the quality of medical services or does not improve it. The squabble over the “board of directors” and who gets how many seats to preserve control misleads us from the question of improving the quality of medical services.

Now to clear the air, my wife and I go to HCA Florida Capital Hospital when we need to go to hospital. They met our needs with professionalism. My daughter gave birth to her second son at TMH. The quality of care and service for my daughter at TMH was exceptionally good.